Owari is surrounded by a stone wall ten meters tall. From the road past the guard station, I can glimpse the top of a five-story pagoda in the middle of town and roads leading away from the entrance in a grid, but that’s it. All the other buildings in the city must only be a story or two tall. A gigantic wooden gate swings open as we approach, and a team of ten people, men and women, wait for us beyond the threshold.
I hand off Kagemusha’s reins, bend my aching legs, and stride forward to meet them. The time has come for me to put on my game face, to command as much of my royal blood as possible and persuade these people to let me in. The man in front, though, angles past me to Sakai and Jiro, as if I’m nothing but a nuisance. I must look even younger now with the short hair.